by Kira Blakely
Of course, she’d accepted—with tears and everything—and got down to the business of planning her wedding to the millionaire on the rise. One week before the wedding, he’d found out what she’d done. What she’d taken from him. She’d terminated the pregnancy days after their engagement because she didn’t want to ruin her figure. Her fucking figure! He’d extricated himself from the situation with the precision of a brain surgeon, all at once so the infection didn’t spread. He’d walked away from her, vowing never to trust another woman again, and he hadn’t looked back.
Until tonight. Until a fiery redhead with curves for days had made him think, made him want to believe that she was different from the others. That she didn’t want anything from him. But given past history, could Gage ever fully trust that?
He didn’t think so. Shawna was upset now, but he doubted it would last long. A week in paradise was enough to weaken the resolve of any woman. He’d find some bauble in the resort gift shop or one of the local places that gouged tourists on their handmade trinkets, and all would be forgiven.
He was certain of it.
Chapter Eleven
Still more asleep than awake, Shawna smiled to herself over the delicious dream she refused to interrupt, especially now that a warm mouth had wrapped itself around her nipple. It had been too long since she’d had a hot sex dream and after the day she’d had yesterday, it was a welcome respite. She wouldn’t be sleeping with Gage again, so this was the next best thing. Her fingers twined in soft wavy hair, and she imagined the same Viking blond hair that had graced her dirtiest dreams for the past two years.
Tugging on his hair, she gave a sleepy smile to the familiar face with the hungry smile. If she was slightly startled by how real the dream seemed, well, she’d had a long day and entirely too much alcohol so it was to be expected. Who cares anyway? It’s my dream. My fantasy. With that thought in mind, she tugged on his hair again, slightly harder than necessary and cupped his face, angling it for the perfect kiss. The kind that started off sweet and sensual, the kind of kiss between people who gave a damn about each other. Not those seeking a physical release or worse, those who were just pretending.
Then the flames fanned, thanks to her eager tongue sweeping in and out of his mouth, her frantic hands wandering the expanse of the muscled planes of his back, the rounded cheeks of the most fantastic ass she’d ever held. A moan escaped and Shawna laughed at how delicious and wicked the dream was.
Even in her dreams, she wasn’t bold or seductive. She was a passive participant, while her dream lover instinctively knew exactly what she needed and gave it to her. Not this time. This dream was hers, and she was in control of her pleasure. And his. Pushing at his chest, yet reluctant to let go of his mouth, she laughed at his surprised expression and took advantage of his stupor by straddling his hips and rolling the smooth seam of her sex over his silk-covered erection. Dream Gage groaned and gripped her hips tight, helping to add weight to the drag of her body against his.
Then she stopped suddenly as a wicked thought occurred to her. She wasn’t great at it, but she’d always wanted to be one of those women who got turned on by pleasuring her man. And though real Gage wasn’t hers, Dream Gage most certainly was.
Shimmying down his body, bold Shawna yanked the waistband of his boxer briefs with her teeth and pulled them down, letting her hair and face touch every inch of him until those blue shorts were on the floor where they belonged.
“Mmm, that’s better,” she purred in a husky voice she hardly recognized. Sitting up, she took his hard length in her hand, explored the feel of it while her gaze took in the angry vein throbbing on the underside of his cock, the thick mushroom head that had brought her so much pleasure. “Your cock is beautiful,” she told him, looking at him through her sleep-mussed hair before licking him from base to tip until he groaned and his hips thrust forward.
“Shawna,” he groaned with so much desire lacing his words, so much intensity in his gaze.
“You like that?” she asked, feeling bolder since this was just a dream. Her mouth wrapped around the tip of his shaft, her tongue circled the sensitive ridge as more and more of him disappeared into her mouth. She moaned at the taste of him, slightly salty, smooth and soft but achingly hard. Masculine. Shawna closed her eyes and let her lips and tongue learn every inch of his long thick cock. She licked and sucked, enjoying the guttural grunts and moans that sounded above her.
“Fuck, yeah, baby,” he growled as his hands fisted her hair. She yelped but the pain felt… good. Nice. His hips moved faster, with a purpose that only she knew, and Shawna let him take what he needed. This was her dream, and she loved the strong way he gripped her hair and used her mouth, thrusting deep and pulling back for shallow thrusts that took advantage of the wet heat of her mouth. “Oh shit, Shawna.”
Feeling bold and sexy, she opened wider until he hit the back of her throat, groaning and trembling while her core flooded with moisture. So, that’s what it feels like to have a big strong man at your mercy, she thought with a smile as she hollowed out her cheeks and did it over and over again. He trembled each time she took him deep, moaning and saying her name like a prayer and Shawna felt… powerful.
“Enough.” He grabbed her hair and pulled her back, tossing her aside and settling between her legs. “As much as I love fucking that sweet little mouth of yours, I need to be buried deep inside this pretty pink pussy,” he growled and dragged a hand through her now dripping folds.
“Yes,” she begged. “Please.” Only she didn’t want to be fucked in her fantasy tonight. She wanted to do the fucking. And she pushed him onto his back, fisting his throbbing cock in one hand and impaling herself with the other. As her body sank down onto him, she tossed her head back and reveled in the feeling of being so completely full. “Oh god, yes!” He felt so good, so long and thick that all she could do was move. Chase her pleasure.
“Shawna,” he growled but she was lost to her own feelings, the way he filled her up and the way his cock touched on every nerve ending she had until she was out of her mind with needing him.
Hands planted on his chest, she kept up a furious pace, rolling her hips in long hard waves. He rubbed against her swollen clit and she bounced furiously along his impressive length until she felt him buried so deep inside her they were one person.
“Shawna!”
His shout drew her attention and she blinked once. Twice. Three times before her eyes focused on Gage, real Gage and not dream Gage. Holy shit, this is real! But she was too wound up to care about her wanton behavior; all she cared about was finishing what they’d both started. She wanted to fuck Gage to make him so crazy that he screamed her name as he came. And she did, completely transfixed by the heat in his gaze, the words of desire falling from his lips. His blue eyes held hers and her moves became wild, frenetic as her own orgasm drew closer and closer. Body tightening in preparation for her release, she reached back and grabbed his balls.
“Fuck, Shawna!”
Before she knew what was happening, Gage had flipped their positions without separating their bodies, leaving her orgasm uninterrupted as he pumped into her hard and fast, furiously wringing every ounce of desire from her worn out body.
“Gage,” she panted, unable to do much more than grunt his name as another wave of pleasure washed over her.
“Fuck, you feel so good, so hot and wet for me.” Lifting her legs higher on his hips for a deeper angle, he pinched her clit and she screamed out, her body convulsing under his powerful strokes. Gage was an insatiable lover, grinding and driving deep and hard and fast while her body continued shattering beneath him.
“Shit,” he grunted when his hands lifted her ass and he thrust as deep as he could go, sending a flood of liquid whooshing from her body in an embarrassing flood. But Gage only smiled, smug and proud of the reaction as he—finally—found his own release.
Her pussy pulsed around him, pulling every shudder from his quivering body. “My goodness!”
He
laughed, and the sound was deep and rich, wrapping around her like a hug. “Can’t say that’s ever happened to me before, but fuck if it wasn’t the hottest thing I’ve ever felt.” He smacked a kiss to her neck before nibbling it and soothing it with his tongue. “I could stay inside you like this forever.”
Shawna knew she should react to his words but her body had finally stopped shaking and fallen into a sated exhaustion. She opened her mouth to say something but found his mouth instead, and that was the last thing she remembered.
***
Gage snuggled in the bed with Shawna’s sexy curves curled against him, completely stunned by what had happened between them. He’d thought that waking her with morning sex would soothe the hurt or anger from the night before. What he hadn’t counted on was a half-asleep Shawna completely bewitching him with her sexy moves. He’d arrogantly thought it was him she’d been responding to, but he quickly realized she’d been in a twilight sleep during some of the hottest fucking parts, namely her plump mouth around his cock, deep throating him. It was an impressive feat for most women, given his ten inches, but seeing her small hands wrapped around him and that lush pink mouth licking and sucking and lost in pleasuring him… well, it had taken everything in him not to finish down that sweet little throat.
But when Shawna had woken up and realized she wasn’t just dreaming, things had gone from electric to explosive. Gage had never been so turned on, so hungry for another person or so hard. In. His. Life. Or so stupid, he reprimanded himself as he remembered just why it had been so hot and so fucking explosive. His cock had been buried deep without the benefit of any protection because she’d had him so twisted up he hadn’t thought about it. And she wasn’t in any capacity to think about protection. Shit, did she even realize? The truly sick part was that he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. Feeling her so tight and wet clenched around his cock had been drugging, and when he’d made her squirt, sending evidence of her orgasms shooting from her body and coating them both from the waist down, fuck, he’d lost all ability to speak or comprehend. He could only feel his own pleasure erupt from him with the force of a volcano. It was, hands down, the single best time he’d ever had with a woman.
***
“Are you going to play or stand around daydreaming about your latest piece?”
Brady’s annoying squeak pulled him from his thoughts. No, his obsessions, and he scowled. “Watch your mouth, kid.”
Steve frowned. “That’s right, Brady. We respect women in this family.” He gave Gage a knowing grin. “I have to say, I thought this was a con when you first told me about Shawna, but she’s the real deal. I’d advise you not to screw it up, but we’re men. It’s in our nature to do just that.”
Gage shook his head. “I’d been after Shawna for quite a while, long before you were considering me as a buyer. She kept refusing me, but now she can’t.” That much was true and this morning was exhibit A.
Gage smiled and let out an amused chuckle as he told Steve all about their deal. “I wanted to impress you, make the best impression possible but she slapped down that idea quickly. So, we struck a deal, we’d get any cocktail dress or night looks from a shop of my choosing and for the rest, she took me to Target, if you can believe it.” Gage shook his head with a self-deprecating smile and pointed to his shoes. “Twenty bucks,” he said proudly.
Steve clapped him on the back. “I’m impressed with her, Gage. I know I give you a hard time, but the truth is I can’t imagine what it’s like to be this rich and single because I had Barbara as my wealth grew. But I’ll tell you that a woman like Shawna, who isn’t looking to spend all your money, is a keeper.”
Gage suppressed a groan that the man had brought up the one thing he’d been pushing further and further to the back of his mind. He didn’t want to think about Shawna being any different than any other woman. She wasn’t special or unique; she was a woman. Just a woman. No matter how she acted now, he knew sooner or later she would show her true colors.
“It does take some getting used to, and we fight about it all the time.” He realized it was true. Most of the time, when they fought it was because he was trying to spend money on her. Or sticking his foot in his mouth.
Steve laughed. “Well, cherish it, because if you start a life with this woman, there will be plenty of things that cost a lot of money. Having a frugal wife or a budget shopper will come in handy. Not that you’re in danger of running out of money.” He laughed again, shaking his head in amusement as old memories assailed him.
“That’s true enough, I suppose. But how do you make up with a woman who isn’t impressed by money?”
He smiled, both men ignoring Brady’s derisive snort behind them. “That’s simple; you impress her with your ears. A bouquet of her favorite flowers. A trinket of something she loves. My Barbara loves dolphins, so I try to bring her back something with a dolphin wherever I go. Listen to what she says, and you’ll always win her heart again.”
Gage thought about that as they finished all eighteen holes on the resort’s spectacular golf course. Listen. He could do that, even if he had no interest in winning her heart. None at all, he added for emphasis. But he was interested in having his way with her body again. And again.
And again.
***
“Where on earth have you girls been?” Shawna and Barbara stood in the foyer of the Wilde home, giggling, tanned and exhausted. They’d just arrived back—more than an hour late for dinner—and both women wore beaming smiles instead of sheepish grins.
“Oh, honey, we’ve had the most delightful day!” Barbara wrapped an arm around her husband and pulled him in for a sweet but hot kiss that made Shawna blush.
After waking up alone in bed, Shawna had needed to do something to stop thoughts of Gage from running around in her head. Any thoughts that what had happened between them this morning—or was it last night? —had been just a dream were shattered by the varied aches and pains in unusual places. So, she’d sought out a different adventure to get her mind off the way her body still hummed and called to invite Barbara along.
“We went zip lining!” She turned her rosy—okay and maybe also a little sunburned—cheeks up at Gage in the fakest loving smile she could muster. Just because she was weirded out by the intensity of their lovemaking and still kind of upset with Gage for yelling at her the day before, she had no plans to dive bomb this deal for him. He’d kept her safe from Pearce, and she would sell the hell out of their faux love affair.
“I was about to send out a search party for you.” Gage smiled down at her, tracing the line of her jaw with his finger. The bastard was trying to get to her.
And it was working. “It was so amazing,” she sighed, hating how breathy she sounded when his eyes flared and his mouth curled up into that sexy grin that made her toes curl. She smiled again when his hands tightened on her waist. Take that, Gage.
“I’m glad you’re all right.” He actually sounded relieved, and Shawna tried really hard not to let it affect her.
“Sorry we’re late. We lost track of time.” They’d done more than that. When they should have been making their way back, they were screaming like fools as they flew through the air over the dense green forest.
“As long as you girls are all right, no harm done.” Steve gave his wife a hungry look that seemed off compared to the chaste peck he followed it up with, but that look in his eyes said it all. He was a man absolutely smitten with his wife. “But now that you’re here, I need to replenish all my golfing calories.” He gave his belly a hard pat and guided Barbara into the dining room, leaving their kids to follow along with Shawna and Gage.
When they were all seated, Barbara gushed. “Oh, Amber, we have to do that before you leave. I swear I feel about ten feet tall!” She laughed and sipped her wine, looking like a new woman.
Amber laughed, sending her mother an indulgent smile. “Sounds like a good time.”
Chapter Twelve
“Your skill as a businessman was never i
n question, Gage, but over this week you’ve proven that your reputation won’t ruin my legacy.” Steve poured two fingers of scotch into two crystal tumblers and pushed one toward him. The casual gesture belied the importance of the meeting in his home office. “I know there’s nothing I can do about what happens to your personal life after today, but I’ve seen you with Shawna, and I know you’ll recognize how important your name is to your business.”
Gage shifted uncomfortably at the man’s praise. He didn’t work for anybody’s fucking congratulations or words of praise, but for some reason Steve’s words touched him. Made him feel like he wasn’t a complete and total fuck up. “I have to say I was pretty ticked off at first, but seeing you with your family, I understand what you were getting at.” Seeing Steve’s family had brought home how much his legacy could be shaped by his misdeeds. But that made him think of something else that had been bothering him. “Why aren’t you handing the business over to Brady?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Brady suffers from a terrible work ethic, I’m afraid, which is why I’d like to stick a provision in this contract for him. Six months running a smaller resort. If he can manage it, I’ll buy him one to run.”
Tension ripped through Gage’s body, and his jaw clenched tight. “Is this a deal breaker?”
The old man shook his head, his face resigned. “No, it’s not. Just a favor from one friend to another.”
Gage nodded, realizing he and Steve were friends. The only better friends he had were probably Ryker and Rafe. And Shawna. Even though they didn’t have a relationship beyond their fake one, she’d become someone he could trust. “All right. I’ll give him six months to start, with an option for another six if he does a good job.”